And then there were Nine
by Mable
Summary: One's cape has been drenched in ink and the Leader won't rest until he find out which of the Stitchpunks did it. While going back through the events of the night, accusations are made; can One figure out who did this and why?


**Mable: My newest fic. It isn't connected to 'Forgotten' in any way, but I am still toying with the idea of maybe having some sort of continuation, though this is separate. I'm really tired, so I'm trying to put this up as quickly as possible before I attempt to get some sleep. I don't own **_**9, **_**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**And then there were Nine**_

One was awoke with a soft exhale and sat up in bed before beginning to get ready to face the day. He stood from his bed and neatly fixed the blankets before turning to put on his crown. With his last one having been lost during the incident, One replaced it and was quite satisfied to have something proclaiming him the leader. That and his cape which was able to be fixed after a few remaining pieces were found in the remnants of the Cathedral. It was a while back and One lifted his cape to place it on his shoulders only to stop. He immediately noticed a dark spot on the cape and felt it, only to have some sort of liquid leave residue on his hand. Now he was suspicious and headed to the candle in the corner of the room, lighting it with a match resting at its base.

Black, the horror of black liquid smeared across the cape, and One gasped in terror at the stain. It was all over the red fabric and he immediately realized that it was ink. His optics' slant narrowed in fury as he realized that someone must have done this.

* * *

"There is a reason I have called everyone out here." One announced to the other Stitchpunks who he had Eight all bring into the room. A few looked confused to see him without his cape, but didn't point it out as they were sure he was aware. "Something happened this morning. Something terrible. Something that shouldn't have happened." A brief pause, "Did Eight fall asleep in your doorway again?" Seven chimed up and Eight was offended, "That never happened!" One huffed, "It certainly did, but not this morning." He stood and began to pace before his throne, eyeing the other suspiciously, and finally stopped beside his throne where he had a cloth hanging on the throne's armrest. "One of you was responsible for this catastrophe."

"What happened?" Nine asked in confusion, actually a bit concerned that it was serious. That was when One snatched up the cloth and revealed it as his stained cape, "This happened." He showed it to the others, "Someone did this to my cape and then hid it back in my room." He was glaring at them all furious, "It is very clear it didn't just happen by itself so it's obvious that one of you were involved." Then he turned away, "Six." This caused some confusion at the sudden name of accusation and Six himself looked taken aback. He clutched his key and even as he spoke ink dripped from the tips of his fingers. Now Two spoke up, "One, you can't just assume that Six attempted to stain your cape." The leader turned back, "Though it is plausible to assume that if Six touched my cape that it would be stained."

A brief pause and Two didn't speak. "However," One continued, "You are correct. It is just too easy to assume it was Six when Six has no motive to even want to touch my cape." He pointed out, now changing his direction to his throne. "Which is why an investigation must take place. To make sure that the real Stitchpunk who did this will be punished and the ones who didn't won't have to be branded as 'guilty'." Now back on his throne he looked through the Stitchpunks, one by one, until he reached one in particular, "Seven, since you are so quick to speak, perhaps you would like to say what you were doing last night." Seven looked exasperated, "You think I spilled ink on your cape?" The leader smirked, "It is not far-fetched. Perhaps you still hold a grudge about our argument a few days ago?"

"Fine." Seven answered, annoyed, "I'll tell you exactly what happened last night."

* * *

_Seven was relieved that One had chosen to go to bed early and tried to think of what to do. Of course, she could easily leave to go into the Emptiness for a walk if she deemed fit, as One wasn't awake, but she had no desire to at night. Instead she went to check on the twins. On the way to their room she almost ran into Six who seemed to be acting a little nervous. "Sorry, Six. Are you okay?" He nodded, "I'm okay." He answered quickly before continuing away. The Warrior guessed that perhaps he had a nightmare yesterday and was dreading the impending sleep that would be coming. She gave a shrug and continued into the Twins' room where they were looking in a small book they had managed to bring from the library some time ago._

_They looked to be falling asleep so Seven, without a word, ushered them off of the floor and to their beds where they immediately collapsed. She pet both of their heads lovingly and watched as they immediately fell asleep. Three and Four had a habit of staying up even when they were exhausted to read. With a smile she put out the candle and exited the room before heading to her own. She was a bit tired as well and decided to get to sleep early like One had; his best advice was usually taken from when he didn't tell the others what to do. The second she began to push open her curtain she heard a voice, "Heading to bed?" Looking back she saw Nine exiting his and Five's room, being best friends they decided to share one. He was smiling and seemed to be in a good mood._

"_I was thinking about it." The female explained and then the zippered one became quizzical, "You haven't seen Five, have you?" She shook her head, "I'd guess him and Two are working on something." He nodded, "Thanks. Good night." And then was gone to find Five. She then entered her room where she removed her armor piece by piece; making sure it was neatly organized, and then headed to bed._

* * *

"So you didn't see the cape at all?" One asked suspiciously and Seven shook her head, "No. I tucked in the twins and went straight to bed." The leader paused, rapping his fingers on the throne, "You could be lying, certainly, and we will see once I get a few more answers. However, I do believe what you said about the Twins. They are young and by that time at night are barely able to stand so they couldn't have done it. Anything else you noticed?" The warrior briefly paused before speaking, "Actually, yes. I woke up in the middle of the night because someone was walking around outside in the hall. I didn't get up though." The leader seemed convinced, "Very well." He stood to pace, "So far, the twins and Seven, if she is being truthful, were asleep before the event took place."

His slanted optics landed on Six who was looking nervous even now, "Is something wrong Six?" A question of suspicion and Six shook his head, "No." One's optics were still trained on him when he spoke to another, "Five, last night, where were you?" The healer sort of was taken aback, but spoke quietly, "Well, I- I was with Two."

* * *

_Five and Two had been trying to think of a way to get the electricity working in the New Sanctuary and were trying to figure out what parts they would have to go out and get the next day when suddenly Nine came in. "Hey Five, Two." Both looked back. "Good evening, Nine." Two smiled pleasantly, "How are you?" Nine smiled as he approached, "Good. I sort of fell asleep and just woke up." They talked for a short while until Two noticed something about the workbench; it was a little wobbly even though against the wall, he looked under while Five waited for him to say what it was. "A screw came loose. Five, could you please hand me the screwdriver?" The screwdriver was really just the tip of a screwdriver that they used and Five looked for it._

_Seeing it absent he remembered that he accidently put it in his bag a while back, but forgot to put it back since then because it hadn't been needed. "It's in my room. I'll go get it." Two smiled and gave a 'thank you' as his apprentice hurried out of the room. He quickly rushed to his room where he went through his bag and got the screwdriver. Then he started back when he noticed something strange, Six, standing in the hallway unmoving, down by One's room and Eight's room. He was looking out into the throne room strangely, but the healer didn't see much reason for concern so he went to give the screwdriver back to Two. Immediately Two began working on the workbench and after a few minutes Five began to feel the effects of fatigue. Somehow, his mentor noticed. _

"_Why don't you two head to bed? I need to make a list of what we need and you both need rest if we will be heading out into the Emptiness." Five smiled, "Don't stay up too late. Good night." Nine also said 'good night' while Two also said one, reassuring he wouldn't stay up much later. The Stitchpunks now headed back to their own room, Five noticed Six was still standing at the end of the hall, and headed down the hall to it. Slowly Five was becoming more and more tired so he quickly climbed into bed, "Good night." Nine didn't respond at first. Then he spoke, "Do you hear that?" Five was too relaxed to pay much attention so Nine just reassured him to rest while he himself checked out what the noise was. Five fell asleep right after._

* * *

"I see. Nine left the room." The healer was hesitant, "I don't know if Nine left the room. He was just by the doorway and then I fell asleep." Five explained, rubbing his arm a bit, and One nodded. "Very well. A few questions; Did you see Seven awake?" Five shook his head, "No. The candle in her room looked like it wasn't lit either." Then the leader asked another question, "And where exactly was Six standing?" Five sort of hesitated, "Right there at the end of the hall." One looked at the entrance of the hall before humming a bit in thought. "Now a picture is being taken of what had happened last night. We are finally starting to see who can say where they were and who can't…" He paused, looking at them all, then spoke, "Nine, your night."

Nine sort of shrugged and spoke as though he had nothing to hide, "I fell asleep for a while like Five said, and when I woke up..."

* * *

_When Nine awoke he immediately noticed that Five was absent. He was a bit curious and could hear someone outside the door so he hurried over and looked out to see Seven, "Heading to bed?" He asked and she turned to him, "I was thinking about it." Then Nine thought about Five, "You haven't seen Five, have you?" She shook her head, "I'd guess him and Two are working on something." Nine nodded, now having a direction to head in. "Thanks. Good night." He walked down to the hall to the workshop where he peered inside to see Two and Five working. He entered happily, "Hey Five, Two." They looked back at him, "Good evening, Nine." Two greeted, "How are you?" Nine thought about the accidental nap and smiled, "Good. I sort of fell asleep and just woke up."_

"_Well, if you're tired, then you need the rest." Two reassured. "We were just trying to figure out how to shed some light on the Sanctuary." Nine could remember the lights and knew it would be easier then lighting candles every day. That was when Two started to move the workbench, "That's odd…" He looked under the workbench, "A screw came loose. Five, could you please hand me the screwdriver." Five paused to think of where it was, "It's in my room. I'll go get it." Two smiled back at him, "Thank you." Nine's best friend ran out of the room and the male watched him leave with a smile. "You two are very close, aren't you?" Two asked with a knowing smile and Nine suddenly felt a bit strange, because he had a feeling that Two meant something else in that comment, and warmth filled his insides._

"_We are very close… But that's good, right?" The Inventor nodded, "Of course! I've never seen Five so happy when he's around you." Suddenly, Five appeared again, and handed the Screwdriver to Two. While Two worked, Five watched him, and Nine watched Five. He noticed the healer looked a little tired and was tempted to insist that he headed to bed. Then, as though he read Nine's thoughts, "Why don't you two head to bed? I need to make a list of what we need and you both need rest if we will be heading out into the Emptiness." Five smiled at him, "Don't stay up too late. Good night." Nine managed not to stare at him as he smiled and turned to Two, "Good night." Now Two waved his hand in dismissal, "I won't be up much later. Good night to you both."_

_Nine and Five headed to their room where Nine watched amused as Five almost collapsed into bed, "Good night." Nine was about to respond when he heard something, "Do you hear that?" It sounded like loud footsteps and he glanced at the door before looking back at his friend. He soon saw that his friend was nearly asleep and began to climb out of bed, "It's nothing. You go to sleep, good night." Then he quietly headed to the door and peered out into the hall. He immediately realized that it was Eight at the end of the hall, entering his room, and shrugged it off before lying in bed again for a much longer rest than previously._

* * *

"You didn't leave." One pointed out and Nine nodded. The leader turned away and he heard Five speak, "I didn't know if you did or not." Nine spoke back in an equally quiet voice, "I know, you fell asleep. But I thought that… I though you got up in the middle of the night after me." One waited for Five to answer, but the male didn't, and the Leader paused to think of some ideas. However, he had his own suspicions, and decided that he needed to try something else, "I need to investigate the Sanctuary. Eight, make sure nobody leaves, I want any evidence untouched." He made sure to send a few looks at the other to intimidate before he did anything further. Then he exited the throne room to prowl around looking for any hint to what occurred.

Luckily, he immediately found some in the hall right outside of his room's doorway; a few droplets of ink on the wooden floor. Though there was nothing to suggest who left these it still meant that he was seeing something left behind, and he entered his room to look around. There he searched and noticed something that he hadn't seen beforehand when he awoke. Hidden under his bed but still poking out enough to be seen was a makeshift bowl of water, fogged by something in it. He reached in and felt a small rag along with the water feeling strange, as though it had some sort of soap in it. There was some dried ink on the sides of the bowl as though someone with ink stained hands had been holding it. Immediately he had the answer and brought the bowl with him into the throne room.

He said nothing at first and instead placed the bowl onto his throne before looking at the others. One was furious, "I am sure I know what happened, but I still need a few answers." Then he turned to Six, "What happened last night, Six? Where were you?" Six sort of hunched back, not speaking, more like he was stuck stuttering. "I can't… I can't tell you." The others were surprised at this answer and One growled, "And why can't you?" Six looked down, as though he was ashamed, "I can't… I didn't do that to your cape." One leaned in closer, "And why should I believe you when you won't even tell me where you were last night?" One growled, "Perhaps it is because I already know what occurred last night, and I certainly know what you did."

Six looked terrified to be blamed and Two spoke up, "One, you don't know Six did this." One continued though, "Last night you wandered the halls looking nervous every time someone found you. Then, as Five explained, you stood outside my door unmoving for some time, where I found drops of ink on the ground. For some reason you took my cape and got a large stain on it. Desperate to hide what happened, you used that bowl and tried to clean it, something stopped you, perhaps I moved in my sleep, and you fled the scene. Now confess your crime!" Six shook his head vigorously, "I didn't- I wouldn't-!" The leader growled, "Then what happened last night?! Why were you acting so strange?! Where were you last night?!"

"He was… with me." It was sort of strange how Eight, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly chimed in out of nowhere. One paused to register if he heard right before looking back at Eight, "He was with you?" He seemed to not believe Eight in the slightest, "Why would he be with _you?_" Eight seemed to be struggling to say the next few words, "Because he's with me every night." A few more seconds of silence and One looked back to Six who was looking down at the floor clutching his key, then back at Eight who was looking away, and took a second for his optics to widen in shock at sudden realization of what had been going on without him knowing. The others were all either staring at Eight or Six, possibly uncontrollably, and finally One recover, "I see…"

Slowly One moved away from Six, "Perhaps I am going blind for if I couldn't see this then how could I see anything else?" Then his annoyance grew, "Then which of you was it?! Which of you did _that _to my cape?! To the only thing that's rightfully mine?!" He turned to Seven, "Did you wait until after the others went to sleep before pouring ink on my cape?! You have all the reason to, always challenging me and such!" She seemed appalled and he turned to Nine, "Or maybe it was you! Always trying to be leader, trying to usurp me, you still hold a grudge about me being leader!" Nine shook his head and One turned to Six again. "Or perhaps you did do it like I thought! Eight is only defending you because apparently you two are a mating couple!"

"It was me!" A voice spoke up and One turned around, "I knew it the second Nine said you got up after him, Five! I knew quiet Five was the center of this web of lies!" Five backed away a bit as One gained on him. Then, Two stepped between then, "One, the only time Five lied was now, he didn't do this." He looked ashamed, "It was me. I did that to your cape." One paused briefly, "Two… Stop defending Five and move out of my way!" He tried to get around the Inventor who stopped him, "No, One listen! He's defending _me. _He must have seen what happened." Two sighed a bit, "I'll explain everything."

* * *

"I was working late trying to work on various tasks."

_Two scribbled on the list with a piece of metal he dipped in a small bowl like a quill and inkwell. Meanwhile he looked over at his other project he had to finish; One's cape._

"I noticed yesterday that a few stitches were undone and wanted to sew them again as a surprise."

_He looked around for his red thread that he had just set out to use and found it nearby. He laughed a little at how he hadn't noticed it being in plain sight, but he was a bit scatter minded now._

"That was when it happened, as sudden as that."

_Two felt himself accidently hit the bowl and it tipped on its side. Ink poured out and covered the red cape in a large black stain. Two attempted to straighten the bowl, but it was in vain, as there was no way to take back what occurred._

"I panicked, I had no idea what to do at first, but then I came with an idea."

_Two quickly filled the empty bowl with water from the small container of water he kept out of the way for cleaning purposes. He managed to find a little bit of soap left and took some shred of it to mix into the water. Then he used a small rag, wetted it, and tried to clean the cape out._

"Then I thought I heard someone at the door, it must have been Five."

_Two looked back at the sound of footsteps and saw nobody. Still, it unnerved him, and the fear of getting caught drove him to leave._

"I decided to try to head into the throne room to clean… But I was stopped."

_Right when he was about to exit the hall into the throne room he heard a noise from Eight's room and gasped a bit. During the movement of the gasp, Two jumping a bit, ink dripped off of the cape and onto the floor._

"I knew nothing about Eight and Six, so I thought someone was awake, I wasn't thinking and I panicked."

_Two entered One's room in a fluster._

"I hid the evidence."

_He could only see one place to put the bowl, under the bed, and shoved it underneath to hide it from view._

"I replaced the cape."

_Two folded the cape as it usually was folded and then rushed from the room._

* * *

"I planned to tell you today. Calmly, privately, but I had no idea that you were going to begin accusing the others." Two sighed, "I was too ashamed to admit what happened and I apologize to everyone, especially you, I know how much that cape meant and I didn't want you to be angry at me." At first One said nothing except stare. Then he sort of looked away. No yelling, no expression, and only a few seconds later did he speak. "You are correct. We need to finish this in private." His voice was completely monotone as he glanced at the others, then turned to Six, "Six, I apologize for blaming you, that wasn't fair of me." Then he turned to Five, "Five, I apologize to you as well." They both nodded and One left the room, Two following behind him.

Once in the leader's room, Two sat down on the bed, and One just stood there. He dropped his stained cape onto his dresser before leaning on it with an exhale. "I should have expected this. I should have been able to tell when you failed to come to bed." Two dropped his head into his hands, "I am so sorry, One. I didn't intend on this happening, at all, and I should have told you instead of lying." The leader shook his head, "You never lied because I was too blind to ask about what happened to you… I am a fool… And creator knows what Eight and Six have been doing just across the hall without me seeing." Two chuckled a little before standing and coming closer, embracing One from behind, "It was my fault. I'm sure you'll never be able to trust me again after this."

"It was an accident." The statement somewhat surprised Two and he stared and One in shook, pulling back; One wasn't someone to just let a dispute, even if an accident, drop so quickly. "Really?" The leader nodded, "It doesn't matter anymore." He turned around and pressed his lips to Two's abruptly. The Inventor took the reaction as a positive and pressed back. Everything having past and being forgiven….

Two was awoken by nothing in particular and remembered what happened immediately. He must have fallen asleep at one point, One and him having actually attempted to relax on the bed for a while in each other's arms. It must have been later in the day and One had gotten up to leave at some point. Only then did Two realize he felt strange, something was wrong with his fabric. There was some sort of liquid soaking into his being and he looked down to see the stain. He pressed his hand on it and brought it up to see what was on him.

"Ink?"

He could just see One smirking now; revenge was sweet.

* * *

**Mable: One's evil, end of story. :) I hope everyone enjoyed!**


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